Why It’s ALWAYS A Good Idea To Build Your Personal Brand
Hey LinkedIn,?
I think we need to talk about a concept I’ve spent my entire life and career on: personal brand. When the term “personal brand” first started hitting the scene in 2009, ‘10, ‘11, ‘12, I was at the forefront of making awareness for it. Around that time, however, lots of people thought it was “yucky” because self-promotion, when out of whack, is not good. People didn’t want to be seen as full of themselves or ridiculous for trying to “build a brand” publicly, but I knew that most people just weren’t looking at it the way I was.
Whenever I would be out somewhere and the topic of personal brand-building would come up, people would literally attempt to get into debates with me. Every time, I would simply say, “Okay. Personal brand–let me say it a different way: Reputation.” All of a sudden, all their confusion and anger completely melted away. I knew then that this was just an issue of semantics. People didn’t want to build a personal brand just because they didn’t like the way it sounded, or worse, because they were afraid of what other people might think of them for trying. But when you think about brand building as building the best reputation you can as an entrepreneur, executive, employee, leader, small business owner or anything else, it becomes clear: Why wouldn’t you want to build the best reputation you can? Why wouldn’t you want to put your best foot forward? Why wouldn’t you want to leverage your skills, talents and expertise for bigger and better opportunities??
That being said, for the February edition of LinkedIn 360, I want to talk about why it’s ALWAYS–and I mean always–a good idea to build your personal brand (and why it’s never too late to start).?
The Power Of A Personal Brand
The reality is that personal brand means optionality. The amount of people that started building their personal brands in 2008 after I wrote Crush It! was insane, not to mention the emails I received for years of people thanking me for writing that book and helping them realize they could make money on their passions. There was a clear turning point at that time where many people started losing their jobs due to the economy getting tighter. However, because those people who had read my book had started to build their personal brands, they were able to get jobs immediately… and they also saw that their peers who were not on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn at the time, were not as fortunate.
As I sit here today in 2025, I implore everyone reading this to just start. Stop waiting, stop putting it off, stop delaying because you don’t have the right camera, or equipment or setup… Do you have to build a brand? Of course not. You don’t have to do anything–we always have a choice… but every day that you’re not building your personal brand is a day that you’re limiting your upside.
The Best Way To Build A Brand? Be You
Every day I get messages from people saying, “Gary, I want to build a brand but I’m no good on video”... “I want to build a brand but I hate the way I look on camera” … “I want to build a brand but I’m not like you.” My answer to these people is simple: Don’t try to be me. Be you.?
I know that I have an extreme personality. It’s very high-energy, very excitable, and lots of people love it, but I also know that it doesn’t work for a lot of people. Don’t look at how I communicate; find your own way. Maybe video isn’t your thing, but you could be an amazing writer or podcaster. Maybe you could start a blog or a substack, or maybe you could create video content where you just do voiceovers over b-roll so that you never have to be on camera.?
There are 300 million different ways to win; find what works for you and do that at scale.?
It’s NEVER Too Late To Start A Personal Brand
The other comment I get all the time is some variation of the following: “But I missed my moment!” “But it’s too late!” “But I’m too old!”
Is it ever too late to create a personal brand? The answer is no–emphatically no, it is never too late. I am so passionate about this. With the advancements in health, I believe many of you reading this are going to live another 20 years, 30 years, 40 years past what you expect. The truth is, many of you are not even at the halftime of your life. So even if you’ve never picked up a camera or a pen or a podcast mic in your life, you can start today. Stop overthinking and start executing.?
Building a brand is everything.
I’ve been telling people for years, go build your personal brand because you can always deploy that leverage against something. If you want to know how to win in a world–especially a world that’s quickly moving towards AI for a lot of the things we do–getting serious about building a brand is one of the best things you can do. So start now.?
Thank you again for reading. If you got value from this month’s newsletter, I’d love if you dropped a comment below.
Unfortunately, I have been alerted to some phishing scams attempting to take advantage of my communities. Please, don’t fall for it! I do not have a Telegram and will never message you there. For more information on avoiding scams, read here.
I Build Brands, Startups and Personal Brands For Over A Decade | Founder at Speaks for Trees Studio | Brand Builder + Film Producer + Creative Director
21 分钟前Its going to be even more important in the age of AI because building TRUST becoming the hardest thing.
International Student Recruiter
47 分钟前Thank you for sharing this message Gary. Funny enough, I have been thinking about personal branding and consistently putting out my brand. Your message is another reminder for me to keep pushing. Thank you Gary.
Senior Vice President - Strategic Partnerships and Co-Founder - Hello, It’s Me??
2 小时前Authenticity will always outlast clever content strategies, because people remember genuine experiences over polished messaging.
The Brand Within Me is a ground-breaking book on Personal Brand.
2 小时前I care more about Who you are than about how well you are known - Character ahead of awareness. The Brand Within is the foundation of any personal brand - without transparency and vulnerability, personal brand becomes simply a mask to hide behind.
Executive Transformational Coach & Therapist | Empowering leaders to conquer burnout, achieve peak performance, and deliver lasting results through rapid, evidence-based strategies aligned to their goals and vision.
5 小时前Absolutely! Your personal brand isn’t just what you say about yourself, it’s what others say about you when you’re not in the room. Build it with integrity, consistency, and real value, and it will open doors for a lifetime.